Virginia Democrats on the Four-Year Anniversary of the Disgraceful, Far-Right-Extremist SCOTUS Decision Overturning Roe v Wade

See below for some comments by Virginians on the four-year anniversary of the far-right, extremist, illegitimate U.S. Supreme Court overturning long-established precedent, on no constitutional basis whatsoever…just because they hate women’s reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy. If/when Democrats ever take back power in this country, they absolutely MUST reform this f’ed-up Supreme Court, as well as a bunch of other things *systemically*, not just nibbling around the edges.

Gov. Abigail Spanberger: “When the Supreme Court of the United States overturned Roe v. Wade, the justices made the choice to jeopardize the rights and endanger the safety of American women. Millions of women lost access to lifesaving healthcare overnight. In the following four years, politicians in statehouses across the country worked quickly to roll back access to abortion, fertility treatments, contraception, and other reproductive healthcare. Women facing medical emergencies are forced to travel hundreds of miles for care, navigate complex restrictions, and risk criminalization to save their fertility or even their own lives.  But not in Virginia. Our Commonwealth has not — and will not — follow down this path. Virginia is the only state in the South where a woman has the same freedom to make her own healthcare decisions as she did before the Dobbs decision. As long as I am Governor, that will not change. And in November, Virginians will vote to enshrine reproductive freedom in our Constitution — so no future Governor and no future legislature can unilaterally take these rights away.”

Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi: “Four years ago today, the US Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade, dismantling a constitutional right to privacy for individuals to make personal reproductive healthcare decisions with the guidance of trusted medical professionals. The disastrous Dobbs decision turned reproductive healthcare over to politicians with no medical expertise, enabling state-level officials to create a patchwork of laws. For Americans living in states with draconian anti-abortion laws, a medically-complicated pregnancy can now mean trauma and even death. For some Americans, traveling to another state to seek abortion care can lead to prosecution and jail-time. During my time in the Virginia Senate and now as Lieutenant Governor, I am committed to fighting for essential healthcare, including reproductive healthcare. Decisions about contraception, abortion, and gynecological health are personal and private. No politician belongs in the middle of conversations between patients and their doctors.””

Sen. Tim Kaine: “Four years ago today, the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs opened the floodgates for draconian attacks on reproductive freedom. On this anniversary and every day, I’m committed to restoring Americans’ right to make their own health care decisions—without government interference.”

Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA08): “Since the catastrophic Dobbs decision, Republicans have restricted access to essential health care across the country. On the anniversary of that decision, Democrats are fighting back, including in Virginia, to protect women’s reproductive freedom. In Congress, House Democrats are working to enshrine the Women’s Health Protection Act into law and restore constitutionally protected rights that women had for half a century.”

Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D-VA04): “Four years ago, the Supreme Court ripped away the constitutional right to an abortion by overturning Roe v. Wade. Today, 1 in 3 women now live in states with abortion bans or extreme restrictions. As a state senator, I passed the Reproductive Health Protection Act to make Virginia a safe haven for abortion access in the South. Now, as Chair of the @ReproCaucus  Abortion Rights and Access Task Force, I’m fighting to ensure that no matter where you live, the decision of when, whether and how to become a parent is yours — and that you can access the reproductive health care you need, when you need it, without interference from politicians.”

Rep. Eugene Vindman (D-VA07): “In 1973, Roe v. Wade became the law of the land, granting women autonomy over their own bodies and health care decisions. But four years ago, SCOTUS overturned decades of precedent and rolled back these fundamental freedoms. As a member of the @ReproCaucus , I will keep fighting to reinstate Roe v. Wade. These deeply personal health decisions belong to patients, not the government.”

VA02 Democratic candidate Elaine Luria: “Today marks the fourth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, stripping women of their constitutional right to choose.  Like most Virginians, I believe decisions about abortion should be made by a woman, her family, her faith, and her doctor, not by unelected judges. That’s why I fought tirelessly to protect abortion access when I was in Congress, and why I will continue that fight when I return to Washington. This November, I hope Virginia voters will join me in that fight by voting “yes” on the Right to Reproductive Freedom Amendment, and enshrining abortion access into law here in Virginia.”

VA01 Democratic candidate Shannon Taylor: “Four years ago, the Supreme Court ripped away a constitutional right that American women had relied on for fifty years. I was one of the first prosecutors in the country to say I would never prosecute a woman or her doctor for seeking or providing abortion care — and I meant it,” said Taylor. “Rob Wittman has spent his career voting to take that right away. He is an anti-choice extremist, plain and simple, and the women of Virginia’s First District deserve better.  In Congress, I will fight to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade, protect access to contraception and IVF, and stop extremists from criminalizing women or their doctors. Virginians deserve a representative who will defend their freedoms, not one who votes to take them away.”

VA05 Democratic candidate Tom Perriello: “Four years ago, the Dobbs decision didn’t just take away a woman’s right to choose. It opened a new, even more extreme frontal attack on the right to contraception – a right exercised by 8 out of 10 American women, each year but opposed by Rep. McGuire”

Tarina Keene of REPRO Rising Virginia: “Four years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court did the unthinkable – took away a fundamental right it once granted to Americans. Now, Virginia is poised to make history once thought impossible – enshrine those same rights taken from us in our state constitution. Virginia is the last state in the south without a post- Roe abortion ban, and we plan to keep it that way,” said Tarina Keene, executive director of REPRO Rising Virginia. “It is not a coincidence that we are here in this moment. The Constitutional Amendment for Reproductive Freedom is the culmination of years of work by advocates and communities across the Commonwealth, people coming together from every corner of Virginia to protect access to critical reproductive healthcare including birth control, abortion, pre-natal care, fertility treatments, post-partum care, and miscarriage management.”